any good clear hip to handstand drills

[CoachCorinne]

I have a level 7 who either shoots too soon into the handstand or never shoots at all. We have three weeks till meet season and she has yet to hit the handstand. Any advice on what to do or any drills that my prove helpful would be much appreciated. Also she casts up to handstand with her legs apart any good ideas on fixing that. I have had her put a stuffed dice in between her legs and its not helping.
Thanks for reading!

[flpflp7]

As far as the clear hip to handstand, we work alot on the strap bar doing multiple clear hip to handstands in a row. I also use a spotting block (for me to stand on) next to the bar and lift them up to handstand as they are coming around in their clear hip to help them get the feel of it. Back extension rolls on the floor are a great drill for these too.
My thoughts on her legs coming apart on her cast handstand is because she's kicking up to handstand instead of lifting with her hips (we have that problem at our gym too!) Do you have a handstand trainer at your gym? If so, it's a great thing to use alot to help them understand the feel of casting to handstand & great conditioning for this skill too. Otherwise, you could do levers with them - that's what we call them - where the gymnast does a handstand & the coach takes their legs down, almost to push up position, then helps them back to handstand. You could also try straddle cast to handstands, working press ups on the floor is a great skill for that.
Here are a couple of links with some other tips:
http://www.usgyms.net/casthandstand.htm
http://www.i-needtoknow.com/gymnasti...cles/cast.html
http://www.tulsagymnastics.com/Routi...Bars/cast.html
Best of Luck!

[hammy]

How is her back extension to handstand on floor? The back extension to handstand is the same action as the clear hip to handstand, so chances are she may have the same problem with both. If she's able to do the back extension without a problem, try explaining to her that they're the same action. Does she ever get spot on them and if so, how are they when she is spotted?

As far as cast handstand--flpflp7 gave some excellent advice! You could always try putting prewrap around her ankles to keep her legs together--this will allow her to separate her legs if she uses enough force.

[Valentin]

Hi

For the clear hips:
1- The stap bar is a really good idea, do lots and lots of these. Always spot and shape
2- Explain to her that the wrist shifting happens really late, and she really needs to pull the bar down hard!. I am pretty sure that when she shoots to soon she is throwing her head, and just doesn't hold the hollow position. This is conditioning and orientation. WORK on lots and lots of back extension rolls that are JUST!!! short of handstand, but that maintain the hollow position. So pretty much she rolls just short of the handstands and then rolls back out all the time holding head neutral, and chest in, and butt tight, and in a nice hollow position
3- Spot her through it.. if you are strong enough and if she is tight enough. Have her hang under the bar in a hollow hold, and then grab her shoulders and spot her up to handstand, pretty much like like as if you spotted someone for a stalder. If she is loose it will show.
4- Encourage her to focus on circling not kicking her feet. She needs to really understand how to drive through her back.. Fromw when she hits horizontal postion out of a cast going into the clear hip, her shoulders should be directly over the hands, and from now she needs to aggresively try and turn over under the bar and thus load the bar, which will spring her up.

The clearhip to handstand is a very labour intensive skill, you will need to spot it over and over and over again. In the mean times you just need to work lots and lots of conditioning (specific) regarding open then shoulders while being hollow, lots hanging hollow holds, etc...

The cast could be:
a- She is still lacking the power, and thus splits the legs a little to reduce inertia and thus help her get up there.
b- She is arching in her back excessively, this will from anatomicaly reasons split her legs apart, especially if the knees are straight
c- She is lazy and just doesn't hold tight enough
d- She is unaware of it, even though you tell her she doesn't feel it. Solution
a- Spot her and stop her when she does it and ask her to feel where her legs are and then ask her to put her legs together and then understand the difference
b- VIDEO! haha wonder trick this one.

Do lots of heel drives (some call them hug the twiky), cast machine drills (can be done using a swiss ball), planche lever to handstands (spotted of course) lots and lots

If she is really quite close to doing the cast to handstands with legs together then keep working it, it will come around. Once again conditioning conditioning condutioning.

[CoachCorinne]

Thanks for all the info, I worked with her today. We worked on perfecting her back extension roll and I spotted her through several clear hip to handstands but when she tried them by herself she just can't get it. We don't have a strap bar, but thanks for that tip. I talked with my coaches and it seems to us that she is just not aggressive enough she is very strong but her shoulders need a lot of work. Her previous coach didn't have a clue how to coach and messed her up big time. Thanks so much for all the advice.

[Valentin]

Hi

There is a challange as a coach, fixing the errors that weren't corrected or were a result of previous coaching. I guess anyone can learn technique correctly and just be super super strict and now allow bad form EVER! to pass, but can you fix others errors? haha.. that is something not many can do i dont think, and its a sign of a really good coach who can do that (i think)...
You know... if you can try this drill
THE TOWER OF POWER
I have never tried it myself but it could really help you (less spotting more shapping) and her (safe, many repetitions, and FUN!...)

Good luck let us know how it goes.

[hammy]

Being aggressive in a clear hip is scary, but it's important to emphasize the drop and how to do it correctly---confidence on this part will come with more spot and being brave. I also like to tell the kids to pretend that there is a beach ball between them and the ball while they're doing their drop--this helps them keep the bar the correct distance away from their body, which helps give them more power. Try to keep in mind that little improvements are just as important as the eventual huge improvements.

[ACoach78]

To be quite honest, if she came from another program and is messed up...then I'd just go backwards and somewhat start over. Explain to her why you're doing what you're doing and how you must look long term as opposed to the present-day.

I'd go back to basic drills and really focus on shaping (particularly during the drop and under the bar), head position, a late wrist shift, and making sure that she can hit a good clear support with strong technique.

You can still spot some handstands everyday, but if she can't do a good clear hip to support, then the handstand won't happen because she can't hold shape or shift properly.

One of the biggest challenges with the clear hip is for kids to keep the head neutral or even slightly down. They always want to see where they're going. If the head lifts up, then that arches the chest and causes them to bend their arms, etc. etc.

Additionally, if they try to shift the hands too soon and push/press themselves to handstand, then they will bend their arms every time. Take a dowel rod or piece of long PVC pike. Lift the bar overhead as you would if you were opening for a clear hip (shoulder flexion). As you are lifting it overhead, try to shift your hands on top of the bar. I don't know about you, but my elbows bend every single time. However, when I get all the way opened up (170-180 degrees of shoulder flexion...as in a handstand) and shift my arms will remain locked. I'd have to do a little digging in terms of why this might be occurring anatomically.

It's very important to realize that a clear hip is still a swing (circling) skill that utilizes the momentum from the drop. They don't really have to work that hard. They have to stay really tight and learn the timing.

Good luck. As I always stress - focus on the future...not the "here and now."

[EntrReality]

Since I am new I cannot post a link to a website on here yet so I will give directions. The vid is on youtube and it is under Rick McCharles account. It is labeled FANTASTIC setup for bars.

It is an interesting approach to teaching clearhips.